27Aug Researchers Reveal New Robot: A Fish Called WANDA
Scientists at Australia’s Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, the National Centre for Sensor Research at Dublin City University, and the Defense Science and Technology Organisation Maritime Platforms Division have developed the Wireless Aquatic Navigator for Detection and Analysis (WANDA), a robotic fish that contains a camera and can seek out and swim toward a particular object of interest. The researchers say WANDA’s real innovation is an active flexible joint tail fin that is activated through conducting polymer artificial muscles. Researcher Scott McGovern says the major advantage of the polymer materials is the ease with which it mimics the tail fin motion of a real fish. WANDA is more mobile and flexible than previous sensing systems, and its fish-like movements create better maneuverability than conventional propeller-driven devices. Conducting polymers also are more robust than the traditional materials used in similar devices. WANDA has been designed to continually swim and search for a pre-defined color and could be used to detect water quality and pollution levels in water catchments and dams. Existing systems detect pollution at certain points along the catchment, but WANDA could swim around the entire structure to provide a more thorough picture of the whole area. WANDA also is capable of inspecting water pipers that human divers cannot reach, or mapping out underwater areas.
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